In response to my commentary yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger’s office sent over a list of what they felt were "inaccuracies" in my piece. Immediately below, in burgundy, are the critiques I received. Immediately below that, in green, are my comments on their input. I appreciate the Governor’s office taking the time to respond, and hope that you will take some time to review this dialogue…

FROM THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE… **There is more – click the link**

View Full Commentary… Read More

Who are they?

-Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO

-Meg Whitman, former eBay CEO

-Rosario Marin, CA Agency Second’y, former U.S. Treasureer

-U.S Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Platform Comm. Chairman

-State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth

-State Senator Abel Maldonado

Of course, we’ll see if the latter two go to the convention. There’s no “deal” that would get Hollingsworth’s vote — but undoubtedly Maldonado would be in the thick of one — if one comes about.… Read More

A few minutes ago, I called longtime FR friend and State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth to congratulate him on being named a speaker at the RNC Convention next week in Minneapolis. Imagine my shock when he responded by saying that my call was the first he had heard of it. I forwarded him the official agenda, and we both looked it over while on the phone. Yes, there was no doubt, he was set to speak… Of course, he had no plans to attend… Go figure. I left him undoubtedly contemplating the trip — with such an honor bestowed upon him.

The immediate thought that came to mind was whether or not there were other speakers who had no idea they were supposed to speak.

Well, just a couple of minutes after I got off of the phone with the Senator his office received a call from the RNC — profusely apologizing that his name was listed as a speaker erroneously! Doh!

What does Dennis have to say about this mix up? “They must have thought I was Jeff Denham, and when they realized I wasn’t, they pulled the plug. I guess this will be my five minutes of fame for this convention.”… Read More

The district I represent consists of about 2/3 of the people of Woodland and less than 200 people in the Elkhorn area of Yolo County.

After meeting with the people in the unincorporated area of my district we decided to work together to pick up some of the trash that people have dumped along the roadways.

The picture associated with this post was taken less than two weeks ago on one of the rural roads near the Sacramento River. There are several places where "city folks" just dump their trash on the side of the road.

So I decide that we are going to clean up this stuff. I hate trash and it is something that needs to be handled. Perfect thing for a County Supervisor to do.

We are pretty close to getting everything worked out so that I can use my personal funds to get Waste Management to send out a dumpster and I can hire a couple people to pick this stuff up. In addition to the stuff you see here we have other spots with sofas, chairs, televisions, kids toys, TIRES and all kinds of other stuff. Things were all set… Read More

Finally, a movie worth seeing. I think. Watch the trailer….

http://www.americancarol.com/… Read More

Demonstrating a complete lack of engagement in what should be a hands-on negotiating process towards a state budget, John Laird, the Chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee is partying up in Denver.

I guess Laird figures, as an ultra-liberal, that he is not going to support more cuts — I’m sure he’s ready to fly home to vote for a tax hike (don’t worry, there aren’t votes for one).

If Laird wants to avoid being booed in Denver, he’d best keep it quiet that he is, “that nut from California that wants to massively increase taxes on beer…… Read More

As a staunch conservative, attending the largest Democratic Party event has been quite an experience. There’s the obvious hostility towards John McCain and all Republicans. But there’s also a shocking amount of ignorance about important issues like national security. It’s actually quite sad to engage in discussions with people so close-minded that even broaching issues perceived as conservative or Republican elicits vitriolic reactions.

But apart from the clash of worldviews, there are many lighthearted, humorous occasions that accompany every political convention. For instance, running into the “Nader’s Raiders” in front of the capitol and being invited to their party this week. Nader for President sponsored the huge liberty bell balloon advertising his plea to be included in the upcoming presidential debates.

No political convention would be complete without a vast variety of paraphernalia, many very clever and funny.… Read More

Much has been written about the August budget put forward by Governor Schwarzenegger last week. At his press conference announcing his plan, the Governor said that his budget plan was “a fiscally responsible compromise” and will “put our state on the road to fiscal sanity.”

In reality, after spending some time looking it over, and discussing it with state policy experts in more detail, the Governor’s proposal will do nothing of the sort. It includes more borrowing and higher taxes on hard-working Californians so the liberal majority in the Legislature can increase spending by billions of dollars. Worse for taxpayers, his plan will still leave California with a $7 billion deficit next year.

The Governor said that more borrowing in the budget is “not a wise idea and I will not do that.” This is very confusing because on the face of it — well, it’s not true. When I look over the plan, I see billions in… Read More